Palm trees like humid warm weather and are seldom seen in cold climates. Not everyone is aware that there are cold hardy palms that can tolerate freezing temperatures. Fortunately, palm trees are not limited to tropical places anymore. With a huge variety of cold hardy palm trees out there, you can grow palm trees virtually anywhere. When we think about vacation, several things come to mind: sun, beaches with white sand, blue sky and beautiful palm trees. It is hard to envision summer vacation with no palm trees.

After coming back from a tropical vacation spot, a lot of homeowners want to bring a calming atmosphere into their landscape. Unfortunately, most of the palm enthusiast live in a cold climate which makes it challenging to grow palm trees.

Choosing the right palm for your garden is the most important step. Cold hardy palm tree species vary in their ability to tolerate different minimum temperatures. To determine what type of palm trees species will survive in your environment, find out your cold hardiness zone. This will make easier to narrow down the choices.

Palm tree adaptation plays a key role. If you purchase a cold hardy palm from a tropical nursery that have never experienced cold weather, the palm will not survive. Palms need some time to get used to the cooler climate. After transplanting palms lose a lot of their roots. Planting palms early in the spring, will give them enough time before winter to develop new root system. Research showed that mature palms experience less transplant shock after being moved.

No matter how cold hardy palm tree is, it needs to be protected from cold snaps. If you know that sudden cold is coming, protect your palm. You can do it by applying a cold protecting spray, using a blanket, lights, or placing a heater next to it. There are many ways to protect your palm from cold. The most important part of the palm is its bud. If bud gets injured, the tree will die. Some gardeners protect their palms by building a microclimate in their yard. Microclimate is a small area that has slightly different temperatures than the rest of the area. You can create a microclimate by planting other tall trees next to the palm. Those trees will protect your palm from cold winds.

The healthier your palm is, the better it will tolerate cold temperatures. To prepare your palm for winter, apply fertilizer few times a year during growing period. This will provide palm with all nutrients it needs to get stronger.

When buying palm tree, pick a well known trusted palm nursery. Don抰 go to big stores like Home Depot. Those stores grow a lot of palms and don抰 have time to acclimatize them. A lot of times they don抰 transplant palms properly when moving them into bigger containers. It is not unusual for a customer to get a good looking palm, only to find it all dried up a few weeks later. They sell those palms so quick, it doesn抰 matter what condition they are in. Most of the customers think it is their fault.